He is the little boy who simply vanished. Six weeks ago William Tyrell disappeared from his grandmother’s garden on the mid-north coast and the officer in charge admits police have no new leads, no clues as to whether the three-year-old wandered off or was abducted.

Superintendent Paul Fehon is careful with the language he uses, mindful to not cause more distress to William’s family. Detectives with the homicide squad and the child sex abuse squad have both been helping with the inquiry and cadaver dogs have combed the area for kilometres around the peaceful village of Kendall.

But Supt Fehon does not want to dwell on what can be the harsh reality when the squads who handle the tough cases become involved.

“I’m not going to have those terms out there muddying the waters until we find out what has happened to young William,” he said yesterday.

There are chilling parallels with the case of missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared seven years ago from her family’s holiday villa at the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz.

As in Madelaine’s case, no one saw William go.

He and his sister had arrived from their Sydney home with their parents on the evening of Thursday, September 11. About 10.30am on the Friday, the two children were chasing each other around outside the back of their grandmother’s house.

The house is at the closed end of Benaroon Drive, a cul-de-sac, and surrounded on three sides by bush. William’s mum went to make a cup of tea. His grandmother was sitting in the garden.

The boy was out of sight for between one and five minutes. No one heard a car, no one heard any screams or cries.

His four-year-old sister did not see what happened. But William had gone.

Within five minutes, his parents raised the alarm and ran to alert neighbours. Within 20 minutes the police were there. By 1pm, there were more than 100 people searching.

“If he has just wandered off of his own accord and met with misadventure, we would have found something by now,” Supt Fehon said.

“We can’t rule out opportunistic human intervention but if that was the case, then the chances of everything aligning for that to take place is unbelievable.

“I would say that someone does know something but that would only be speculation.”

Every one of the 21 houses in the exclusive estate around the grandmother’s house have been searched from top to bottom twice, including roof cavities and septic tanks.

Supt Fehon is no stranger to baffling searches. With fellow superintendent Peter Thurtell, he led the nation’s longest and largest manhunt, which ended when fugitive Malcolm Naden was found in March 2012 in a remote cabin, west of Gloucester.

He modestly describes that as an “organisational achievement” and says it is the same way to solve the disappearance of William. Solid police work.

Strike Force Rosann is now following up hundreds of calls to CrimeStoppers including sightings of William. Even reports from clairvoyants, traditionally treated with scepticism, are being chased up.

The investigation will go on indefinitely. “You can’t let a three-year-old boy just go missing and not continue with the investigation,” he said.

Today marks three months since William Tyrell went missing at Kendall on the mid north coast, and his family and investigators are just as determined to find him.

The three-year-old went missing on Friday September 12 around 10.30am and was last seen playing on the balcony of his grandmother’s house in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast.

It is believed William, who was wearing his Spider-Man suit at the time he vanished, could have wandered into nearby bushland.

At the time of his dissapearance, Police Superintendent Paul Fehon said police could not rule out the possibility William was abducted and his team of investigators had searched nearby thick scrub, including areas they have already combed.

“Those chances of survival diminish rapidly and of course we are very concerned for young William’s welfare,” Superintendent Fehon said.

“We do have grave concerns. To disappear that quickly absolutely bewilders us.”

Days later, police made the tough decision to scale back their search for missing toddler.

Authorities confirmed that emergency crews have stopped looking for the three-year-old in surrounding bushland, where it was believed he may have wandered, and will now look into whether or not “human intervention” could be the reason behind his disappearance.

Above are pics of the front and rear of the house. One thing I notice is an almost total absence of fences. How on earth do they keep toddlers in anyway? Initial report states he and his sister were playing in the garden at the back of the house yet six weeks later he was supposedly last seen on the balcony at the back of the house? Stranger still is the claim his four-year-old sister whom he was playing with has no idea where he went? All very odd!

Above are pics of the front and rear of the house. One thing I notice is an almost total absence of fences. How on earth do they keep toddlers in anyway? How did a three-year-old manage to get down from a balcony in any event?

Your version says balcony, mine said the children were running around chasing each other outside the back of their grandmothers house. Following the street view Pegasus posted and further down Benaroon Drive, the balcony looks like it is at the side of the house. The grounds are all open around it, but where in the garden was the grandmother sitting I wonder.

Looking again, there doesn't appear to be any balcony steps, perhaps the way onto it is from the house. Underneath the balcony is a row of windows along the length of the side.

The parents must be devastated. It looks like a rather remote area. I wonder if there was much traffic on that road, or if there was an enclosed area round the side of the building, for children to play? It does appear very open.

Above are pics of the front and rear of the house. One thing I notice is an almost total absence of fences. How on earth do they keep toddlers in anyway? Initial report states he and his sister were playing in the garden at the back of the house yet six weeks later he was supposedly last seen on the balcony at the back of the house? Stranger still is the claim his four-year-old sister whom he was playing with has no idea where he went? All very odd!

As soon as I read about it I thought of Sandy Davidson who is missing from Irvine.

He was playing in his grandmother's garden with his sister. She remembers a man opening the garden gate and taking Sandy away.

Sandy's gran was interviewed last week in connection with a joint initiative of Police Scotland and Missing People, the charity is supported by Sandy's sister; even after all these years his gran is distraught by his loss, one of the things she said was that that she could be passing him in the street without knowing.

My thoughts are with William and his family.

Logged

The remit of Operation Grange is to investigate ... "(as if the abduction occurred in the UK)"

Here is a plan of the house 48 https://goo.gl/maps/FwiodThe balcony extends around the southeast and northeast facesYou can see the southeast face in the second photo in John's post.(the balcony steps are on the northeast face).Because of the slope of the ground, the balcony is about 2 metres above ground where the steps are, increasing to about 4 metres above ground at the south corner.

From studying streetview and press photosLarge green object of vertical cylinder shape under balcony on southeast face, not sure what it is.Below the balcony on southeast face is a ground-level deck and there is a tiny space beneath this.At roadside is a slot opening into underground rainwater drain. A dark area towards south corner of garden is that just shadow or is it water?IIRC it had rained alot just before disappearance.

Acting Superintendent Commander Tony Joice, who is leading the taskforce investigating the three-year-old’s disappearance from the small town of Kendall, said police jet skis and sniffer dogs had scoured the nearby Camden Haven River last week but found nothing.

He said it was the final stage of the ground and water search for William.

“Nothing has been found and that area has been eliminated at this point,” he said.

“There’s pretty much nothing else we can do... we will have eliminated a number of areas where

“It has been very difficult. I wish to thank our family and friends for the overwhelming support we’ve received.

“We’ll get through this. We will.”

Mr Spedding had visited the home of the missing three-year-old’s grandmother in nearby Kendall last year, four days before the toddler disappeared.

The tradesman, who is not a suspect, had been there after a request for a quote on a washing machine repair but didn’t return to the home on the day William went missing.

Police also searched Mr Spedding’s business in Laurieton. Items seized include a mattress and computer, which will undergo potentially weeks of forensic examination.

Channel Nine reporter Chris O’Keefe interviewed Mr Spedding and his wife Margaret this morning for a report to be aired tonight. He said that the couple seemed fragile.

“He was very tired, very emotional and extremely upset about it,” O’Keefe told news.com.au

“Both said to me they were on the verge of nervous breakdowns, their life has been upturned.”

Mr Spedding has denied having anything to do with William’s disappearance on September 12 and has volunteered to speak with police about the investigation despite not having been arrested or charged with any offence.

O’Keefe said the couple had not been back to their home since Tuesday morning, although police gave them the all-clear to return today.

“They are coping by sticking together (and) keeping a low profile.

“Knowing their family is sticking behind them, and believe their story 100 per cent is making it a bit easier.”

Mr Spedding became entangled in the investigation as he visited William’s grandmother’s home four days before he went missing for a washing machine repair quote.

A close friend said the tradesman had to source a spare part but never installed it after failing to get in contact with William’s grandmother on the morning of September 12.

In the afternoon he called again and spoke to William’s mother, during the early stages of a frantic search for her son.

“She said to Bill `I am afraid you won’t be able to come to do the job, we will call when we are able’,” his friend said.

William Tyrell has been missing since September.

It is understood in the days after William disappeared, and as hundreds of volunteers searched for the toddler in surrounding bushland, Mr Spedding’s work whitegoods van was spotted in the Kendall street outside William’s grandmother’s home.